Annual Progression (annual training hours):

First, see the chart below for sample annual training hours for nordic skiers. These numbers come from my experience as a coach, guidelines from national teams (US Ski Team and other countries), and they are steeped in the practical terms of what I think is reasonable. Note: these are guidelines, but by no means rules. There are absolutely 16-year-old boys training 500-600 hours per year, and there are also nationally competitive boys that are likely training <375 hours per year and having success. But, this at least gives an outline for parents and athletes to better conceptualize what it takes to be a skier.

Guidelines for annual training hours based on gender, age, goals, and commitment-level

Spring Training Outline:

Below is a training outline that athletes can use to guide training over the next few weeks. At this time, athletes should “get back to the basics”

• get used to running … be safe … avoid injury
• get used to cycling and other cross-training
• remember to take it slow
• get back into strength training
• stretch: maintain or increase range-of-motion (boys: especially important!)

The information below would roughly correlate to an athlete on an annual plan of 285-300 hours (15-year old boy on a “local” plan or a 16-year old girl on a “regional plan). You can adjust the numbers by multiplying by a fraction (1.3x for a 15yr boy on a “national” plan).

As you can see in the file below: Monday April 21st is the start of hte 2014-2015 training season. In the ski world, late-April is widely considered the new training year, and high-level skiers are done with their vacations to Costa Rica and back to training by May 1st!

Spring training outline